


Symbiosis

by jaskiersvalley (connorssock)



Series: Geraskier Week [4]
Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23027050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/connorssock/pseuds/jaskiersvalley
Summary: Most people only ever saw what protection Geralt offered Jaskier. They never saw what Jaskier did for Geralt.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Series: Geraskier Week [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1650898
Comments: 12
Kudos: 463





	Symbiosis

A Witcher and a bard. They certainly made for a curious pair to go adventuring together. People always muttered lowly about what they could possibly see in each other. In braver towns, there were rumours circulating about why an infamous Witcher put up with a pesky, annoying bard. The more lewd ones made jokes about Jaskier’s mouth being okay for singing but so much better for other things. Because it was the only thing they could see Jaskier giving Geralt in return for, well, so much.

Because Geralt allowed Jaskier to travel with him, the bard had new inspiration, new adventures to sing about. All while under the protection of a Witcher. He could watch epic fights from a safe distance, pick Geralt’s brains about the facts around certain creatures to make his songs more accurate. His inspiration would never run dry.

In addition, Jaskier could benefit from a Witcher’s presence in taverns and inns. Sometimes he still got booed but nobody dared pelt him or give him too much trouble lest they unleash a Witcher’s anger. So Jaskier had an easy time performing and charming locals.

Travel as also so much easier. No sane bandit would jump out and rob a bard who travelled with a Witcher. It meant Jaskier could see more of the world, hear so many stories that just weren’t available to almost anyone else on the Continent. Few were better travelled than Jaskier and none had a smoother experience of traversing the world.

On top of it all, Witchers earned decent coin. So Jaskier wouldn’t have to worry about singing enough for board and food. If his talents were less appreciated, he didn’t need to beg and barter, Geralt’s coin would ease his way.

That was why so many people grumbled about the bard and his comfortable life, coasting on the tail of Geralt’s success. People wanted to drag him down a peg or two, besmirch him out of jealousy. What they didn’t realise was that Jaskier gave just as much as he got but not so obviously.

Sure, he sang songs to bring in coin. But those songs were the ones that pulled Geralt from sneered murmurs of “Butcher” to awed whispers of “White Wolf”. Now, people gladly paid him all because Jaskier had managed to immortalise him in song as a hero.

But that wasn’t all Jaskier did. Nobody saw how, after hunts, Geralt could sometimes waver, not physically exhausted but emotionally drained. Despite not knowing a life any different, killing for a living did take its toll. Witchers didn’t feel. And Jaskier was a singing donkey. The correct expression was that Geralt didn’t emote while awake. But Jaskier had sat up many a night, humming soft lullabies and wiping tears from Geralt’s face. Not that Geralt was awake for it, not really. But he cried in his dreams, a release of all the sorrow and rage he claimed to not have while awake.

There were also times when Jaskier helped not just bathe him, but also patched up wounds. To the public at large, Witchers were untouchable. They didn’t suffer from things like winter chills, their wounds healed in the matter of minutes. Someone as incredible as the White Wolf most certainly did not hobble around for a few days after being almost gutted by a monster or bitten by a foul creature. But Jaskier saw it, was given the questionable privilege to not just see but also help. He tried to ease the aches and pains with kindness when the herbs and poultices weren’t acting fast enough.

It was safe to say they both got a lot out of each other. Even if to the uninitiated it looked so very one sided. There was one thing though, that overruled everything else, one thing that surpassed all others reasons for the Witcher and the bard to stay alongside each other. In words, it could be so simple to explain away. Even one word sufficed really: love.

**Author's Note:**

> This and more over on tumblr - @jaskiersvalley


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